


Children Are Everything

by Rellanka



Series: A Year Of Cloudy Skies [52]
Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Bad Courting, Bad Flirting, Crack, Determined Sephiroth, Future Mpreg, M/M, Reluctant Cloud
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24747355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rellanka/pseuds/Rellanka
Summary: Jenova and Sephiroth have decided that Sephiroth having a child is necessary. Cloud has very much not. But Sephiroth does a (barely) passable job of trying to convince him.
Relationships: Sephiroth/Cloud Strife
Series: A Year Of Cloudy Skies [52]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1697269
Comments: 8
Kudos: 276





	Children Are Everything

The first time it happened, Cloud truly thought that he was either hallucinating again or that Sephiroth had finally lost it entirely.

“What.” He said flatly as he stared at the figure looming off to the side, a bouquet of **flowers** in one of his hands. 

Sephiroth merely raised an eyebrow back at him, coolly composed and unembarrassed as he stood on the platform, despite the pure **ridiculousness** of what he had just said. “Join me and bear my child. I will help you tear Shinra into the tattered pieces that it so richly deserves to be while protecting your new… colleagues. In return, you will give me the child and my mother the grandchild that we desire. Really, Cloud, this arrangement is wholly beneficial to you. Surely you don’t think the little crush you used to have on me was a secret?” And the arrogant, cocky son of a bitch dared to raise a mocking brow at him, “Truly?”

Cloud bristled, “’Used to’ being the operative words, you asshole.” He snapped, “The crush died when you **burned my hometown to the ground**. Or did you forget that when you finally kissed your last bit of sanity goodbye?” 

“You did kill me for that, if I recall correctly.” Sephiroth mused as Cloud ignored him and continued as if he hadn’t, “And what, did you skip biology to take lessons teaching you on how to become a homicidal maniac? I don’t even have the **parts** to have your child. Go read a book.”

Worry started to churn in Cloud’s gut when he saw how Sephiroth looked smug rather than defeated.

“Didn’t you know, Cloud?” Sephiroth purred, “When Hojo changed your DNA to make you closer to something like me, he also made certain other… changes. Changes that ensure that you **could**.”

Cloud stood there staring blankly at his worst enemy, inwardly wrapping hands around Hojo’s neck and _squeezing_ until the asshole’s eyes popped and his fucked-up brain exploded. He hoped that the piece of shit one day got to watch as every single one of his experiments were freed while he got himself thrown into a locked tank of mako to burn and scream and suffer, unimportant and overlooked. Cloud felt like the insignificance would bother Hojo more than actively being experimented on would, and no one deserved to be thrown in a dark corner somewhere and forgotten more than the scientist did. The peacefulness of death was too good for that prick. 

“Did. He.” Cloud said flatly through gritted teeth, more reaction than question. He didn’t need Sephiroth to answer, he knew how likely it was to be true. They were talking about _Hojo_ here. Instead, Cloud raised his sword and pointed it Sephiroth’s way in what should be an obvious rejection, “But considering that my answer is still ‘No.’ whether he did or not hardly matters.”

Sephiroth discarded the flowers in his hand to draw his own sword with a heavy sigh, as if Cloud were being **difficult** instead of sane and rational and completely in tone with their interactions thus far. “Very well, if you insist that it be this way. But do think on the offer, Cloud. I feel that we could… accomplish great things together.”

When Cloud charged, he aimed for the man’s **crotch**. 

***

“What.” Cloud said flatly as he regarded the form looming behind the slain President, the said form reaching out to rest the hand that wasn’t holding another bouquet casually on the hilt of the sword currently pinning the corpse to the floor. 

Sephiroth shrugged as he quickly pulled the sword free, both gestures somehow equally elegant. “I thought that perhaps proof would prove the seriousness of my offer.” 

Cloud stiffened, very aware of the people in the room with him, even as he did his damn best to set Sephiroth on fire with his eyes alone. 

“Sorry, the answer is still ‘No, thanks.’” He said with flat sarcasm, his hand reaching carefully for the hilt of his own sword.

Even though he couldn’t risk turning his gaze and attention away from the threat in front of him, he was still vaguely aware of Barret’s “What the actual **fuck?!?** ” and of Aerith just barely holding Tifa back from going for Sephiroth’s throat. 

“Pity.” Sephiroth said mockingly with a smirk, but the way he slowly lowered the flowers to set them down on the desk before him almost made it seem like he was genuinely disappointed, “You really would make a beautiful mother, Cloud. Especially for **my** child. But perhaps you need me to further prove my worth.” Sephiroth bowed with obvious theatricality, “I shall do my best to meet your expectations.”

And with that _lovely_ promise, Sephiroth disappeared to leave Cloud to deal with his team and the many, many questions that they now had. (At least he left a fragment of Jenova behind to serve as a distraction. But Cloud smacked himself for feeling grateful to Sephiroth for anything when he realized that he was mentally thanking the man.)

***

The less said about the offers Sephiroth made while they were trapped in the space between worlds, the better.

***

Cloud crossed his arms and regarded the impaled Zolom in front of him with an unimpressed look. It wasn’t the first beast that his team had come across that was very obviously showcased. 

But it was one of the most… dramatically placed. 

“Do you like it?” Sephiroth asked, appearing suddenly at Cloud’s side as he had been doing far, far too often lately.

Cloud snorted in return, “It seems a bit much don’t you think? Makes me think you might be compensating for something.” And he cast an obvious glance to the crotch of Sephiroth’s pants.

The outraged look on Sephiroth’s face almost made this entire situation **worth** it.

(The way that it sparked an attempt to prove Cloud wrong was less so.)

***

“Why don’t you kill Heidegger?” Cloud muttered bitterly to Sephiroth later on one of his visits, “ **That** would impress me plenty.” 

Sephiroth regarded him with an almost pitying look, “Cloud, if I killed Heidegger, they might replace him with someone **competent**. I’m sure I could meet the challenge of whoever they chose to throw at me, but why waste time like that? I’d rather spend my time engaging in… other pursuits.” And the suggestive look and the way he trailed his hand down Cloud’s side made it obvious what pursuits he would rather be engaged in. 

Cloud blushed slightly and rolled his eyes and didn’t even notice the significance of the fact that he hadn’t immediately pushed Sephiroth away.

(But Sephiroth did.)

***

It was Tifa, finally, that actually led to the end of Cloud and Sephiroth’s game of cat-and-mouse, dragging Cloud into an intervention that finally had Cloud confronting Sephiroth for the true end of their game. 

“We need to talk.” Cloud said firmly, meeting Sephiroth’s eyes as the man shifted slightly at the seriousness he saw in Cloud’s gaze.

“I had believed that we’ve _been_ talking.” Sephiroth said with an uncharacteristic carefulness, “Was I wrong?”

Cloud didn’t falter at Sephiroth’s half-hearted attempt to start their usual banter, “I’m willing to say yes.” He said, and quickly continued before Sephiroth could take more than a half-step toward him, the man’s expression anticipatory and lascivious, “But there are conditions.”

Sephiroth paused slightly at that before regaining his usual superiority, “And what are your terms?” He asked with a purr that Cloud could feel in his bones.

Cloud shook off the way that his heartrate kicked up at the look in Sephiroth’s eyes, settling himself in firmly. If Sephiroth didn’t agree to what he said next, no agreement would be made. Ever. “Children deserve stability. A home that they know is there, and not one that **might** be out there. You and Jenova want to consume this Planet and go searching for a new home, and that is **not** the kind of childhood a kid needs.” Cloud cut Sephiroth off when he began to interrupt, “I know that your childhood wasn’t ideal, and neither was mine, but if I have a child they **are** going to have a chance at a happy life. Or I’m not having a child. Period.” 

Sephiroth was regarding him with a frown, but at least he looked like he was considering Cloud’s words. “And what will this chance entail?” Sephiroth asked.

Cloud answered swiftly, “Leaving the Planet and everyone in it alone. At least until our child is an adult. If they truly wish, we can have a discussion about how to move forward with them then, and they get to weigh in on our plans. If they choose to destroy the Planet and join you on your quest… then we’ll decide how to go on from then. But for now, we live as peacefully as we can manage, and that means you, _and_ Jenova, attack no one that isn’t directly attacking our family. That includes my friends, Sephiroth. Even Aerith.” 

“I… need to discuss some things with mother.” Sephiroth said finally, his gaze far away, “I shall… be back with my reply later.” 

And just like that, he was gone.

Cloud stared at the place he had disappeared and wondered what he had just gotten himself into. Cloud figured that with the way Sephiroth kept **asking** and not **forcing** Cloud to bear his child, there might just be a chance that Sephiroth would honor his word, if he gave it. His friends were pretty evenly split on agreeing or disagreeing with him about doing this, but everyone agreed that they needed more time to plan if they were going to save the Planet. While agreeing might place Cloud in an incapacitating state for a time, it would also serve as an excellent distraction. And besides, everyone had agreed to help Cloud when it came to rearing the child, should Cloud be forced to kill the child’s father. 

Overall, this was the best plan they currently had, and even if it lead to a confrontation with Sephiroth, that was what they were heading towards anyway, so they weren’t losing anything they wouldn’t already be anyway. 

_Except for my ass._ He mused with a type of morbid humor. 

***

No one in the group was surprised when Sephiroth came back with an agreement, though they were, again, split on how they should move forward afterward.

Not that Cloud was involved in any of those discussions.

No, Sephiroth kept him far too busy for that.

Baby making was busy work, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a little different for me in that it gives Jenova a little more agency (though not a whole lot, admittedly) as I hold to the canon that Sephiroth was the one controlling Jenova all along, even in the OG, and usually also hold to the subtle and possible canon that Jenova is mostly brain dead during the games. So I do hope I got across that it was still really Sephiroth in control here, as well! Thank you for reading.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Gloriosa Generosa](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24800125) by [WaltzQueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaltzQueen/pseuds/WaltzQueen)




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